Fortune 500 Part 1: Here Are The Top 13 Industry Entrants
Fortune just put out this year's Fortune 500 list of top companies—Bisnow sifted through the names to find how real estate firms stacked up. Here's Part 1 of our breakdown, with firms that made it into the top half of the real estate players.
Fannie Mae
CEO: Timothy J. Mayopoulos
HQ: Washington, DC
Spot On The List: 16
Years On The List: 19
Employees: 7,300
The mortgage insurer has been under the control of the US government since the 2008 financial crash, and since housing prices started rising again in 2012 the US government has raked in cash from the company—to the tune of $147.6B, outstripping the $116.1B bailout.
Freddie Mac
CEO: Donald H. Layton
HQ: McLean, VA
Spot On The List: 43
Years On The List: 19
Employees: 5,439
While it hasn't been as profitable as its sister company, Freddie has returned nearly $100M to taxpayers since 2012. The mortgage insurer posted a $354M loss in Q1, however, as global market turmoil pushed down the value of its derivatives portfolio.
TIAA-CREF
CEO: Roger W. Ferguson Jr.
HQ: New York
Spot On The List: 82
Years On The List: 19
Employees: 12,735
This insurance company manages retirement accounts and mutual funds, and sells insurance plans—and its profits jumped 26% in 2015. TIAA-CREF has been expanding its holdings in real estate, which amount to around $90B in assets—making the company one of the world's largest real estate investors.
Marriott International
CEO: Arne M. Sorenson (pictured)
HQ: Bethesda, MD
Spot On The List: 195
Years On The List: 18
Employees: 127,500
The hotel juggernaut holds over 3,900 properties around the world—and that's only increasing. Marriott made headlines this year with its bidding war for, and subsequent $14B buyout of, Starwood Hotels.
Las Vegas Sands
CEO: Sheldon G. Adelson (pictured)
HQ: Las Vegas
Spot On The List: 241
Years On The List: 7
Employees: 46,500
Billionaire Sheldon Adelson's casino and hotel firm operates luxury resorts in Macau, Singapore, Las Vegas, and Bethlehem, PA. And Sheldon has been making headlines outside of real estate recently by pondering a super PAC to support fellow real estate mogul Donald Trump in his presidential bid.
BlackRock
CEO: Laurence Fink (pictured, left)
HQ: New York
Spot On The List: 250
Years On The List: 9
Employees: 13,000
The world's largest money manager saw a rocky start of the year, but has since rebounded, with its market cap rising more than $9B since its January low. The firm started as a subsidiary of Blackstone—but sits above that firm on this list.
Hilton Worldwide
CEO: Christopher J. Nassetta
HQ: McLean, VA
Spot On The List: 254
Years On The List: 13
Employees: 164,000
Hilton has gotten creative with its real estate holdings over the past year, spinning them off into a REIT. And to head up the new company Hilton poached the longtime CEO of RLJ Lodging Trust, Thomas J. Baltimore.
CBRE
CEO: Robert E. Sulentic
HQ: Los Angeles
Spot On The List: 269
Years On The List: 9
Employees: 70,000
CBRE is the world's largest commercial real estate investment manager, overseeing commercial properties around the world. The firm decided to move to an open plan office at its LA HQ—something welcomed by its employees.
MGM Resorts
CEO: James J. Murren
HQ: Las Vegas
Spot On The List: 309
Years On The List: 16
Employees: 57,950
This worldwide casino and hotel company dropped 20 spots on the list this year, as its revenue dropped 8.8%. The firm isn't taking that lying down, though, as it decided to monetize its real estate in the past year by spinning it off into a REIT, which just went public in April.
KKR
CEO: Henry R. Kravis (left), George R. Roberts (right)
HQ: New York
Spot On The List: 347
Years On The List: 5
Employees: 1,196
The private equity real estate giant KKR had a poor showing in Q1, as its Economic Net Income/Share was—$0.65—much lower than analysts expectations of $0.33. Still, the firm rose on Fortune's list from 356 last year.
JLL
CEO: Colin Dyer (pictured)
HQ: Chicago
Spot On The List: 436
Years On The List: 2
Employees: 61,500
This Chicago-based real estate firm has made the top half of the list in both of its years as a member. The company saw a 9.9% increase in revenue over the past year, up to $5.9B.
Starwood Hotels
CEO: Thomas B. Mangas (pictured)
HQ: Stamford, CT
Spot On The List: 444
Years On The List: 18
Employees: 188,000
This hotelier rose two spots on the list since last year, but will soon cease to exist, after being bought out by Marriott for $14B (but only after Anbang walked away from its takeover bid.)
Host Hotels
CEO: W. Edward Walter
HQ: Bethesda, MD
Spot On The List: 472
Years On The List: 15
Employees: 240
One of the smaller firms on the list, Host has seen a 13-spot jump since last year. Its profits, however, haven't been so lucky, dropping -23.8% over the same time period.